Events > Dust Storm

Dust Storm 2009

The 2009 Eastern Australian dust storm swept across New South Wales and Queensland in September 2009. On 23 September the storm reached Sydney. Some of the thousands of tons of dirt and soil lifted in the dust storm were dumped in Sydney Harbour.  

The dust storm was described by the Bureau of Meteorology as the worst in New South Wales in nearly 70 years. The CSIRO estimated that the storm carried some 16 million tonnes of dust from the deserts of Central Australia.

The dust is believed to have originated from a dry, remote area of far-western New South Wales and north-east South Australia.

People were warned to stay indoors until the dust dispersed.